Chapter Eleven
Cassie felt bedraggled. There was no other word to describe it. It was not entirely surprising really since she, along with Hermione and Susan, had just climbed a rather steep hill and scaled a fifteen-feet wall lined with barbed wire. Their jackets still stuck to the barbed wire where they had placed them in order to climb over and rope still dangled down the side of the wall, but they hoped the Cullens would not notice. It had been a stressful climb for Cassie in particular, who had received Hermione's elbow to the head and Susan's shoe to the chest, resulting in her falling from her rope at around seven-feet high and landing in some bushes.
As she knocked on the door, Cassie felt Hermione pull a twig out of her hair. She gave her a thankful smile before the front door of the Cullen Castle creaked open and Queen Bella, in all her perfect glory, stood in the doorway. Before we arrive at the three girls' reactions to the delightful sight that was Bella Cullen, first it is simply protocol to describe Bella. She was wearing a pair of stone-washed jeans, along with a plain pink t-shirt. Thankfully, since I, the author, cannot differentiate between chinos and khakis, Bella had never been one for fashion. Her face was void of make-up, and it needed none. Her eyes shone with a wild passion, her lips were as red as the blood she so often tasted, and her hair glistened in the sunlight. Also, on her feet she wore fluffy bunny slippers, which was quite ironic since they were her favourite hor d'oeuvre.
Cassie gasped dramatically. She looked at Bella, her mouth hanging open. "Oh my gosh, Bella," she gushed. "What are you doing here?"
Bella made a face wrought with pure repulsion. "I live here, idiot," she said in that silky smooth voice of hers. Just the mere sound of it would cause any human heart to melt. It truly was hypnotising.
"Oh, wow," said Cassie. "I did not know that!" She turned to Hermione. "Did you know that, Hermione?"
"No," Hermione said, shaking her head.
"She didn't know that," Cassie said. "That is so weird. We were just walking and we got lost, and then we climbed that big wall you've got there! It was... It was fun."
The three girls laughed nervously as Bella glared at them, her luscious lips pressed together tightly, her sculpted brows furrowed.
"You see," said Hermione, "Susan hurt her ankle when we climbed the wall. Didn't you Susan?"
Susan's eyes widened. "What? Oh, right, yes!" She fell suddenly to the floor, clutching her ankle and moaning like a dying cow. "It burns! Dear God, it burns! Help me! Save me! No, wait, save yourselves!"
"She's pretty delirious," said Hermione.
"So it would be really kind of you if you would let your fellow human beings into your home." Cassie gave Bella a sweet smile. "I mean, it would be the thing to do if you had a heart, like we do, which is pumping delicious blood around our veins..."
"Come in," said Bella, stepping aside without another moment's hesitation.
They tried their best to keep a smile plastered on their faces as Cassie and Hermione helped a still wailing Susan upright and into the castle. The first thing they noticed was how cold it was inside of the castle, despite the heat outside. The castle hardly felt lived in. As they walked down the hallway they could see that the wallpaper was cracked and peeling, everywhere covered in cobwebs and dust. Susan's wails echoed down the hallway until Cassie pinched her and told her to shut up. Unfortunately, that only caused her to burst into tears, but, thought Cassie, at least they were genuine.
Bella stopped before a door at the end of the hallway, flipping her glossy hair over her shoulder as she gave it a delicate knock. She turned back to smile sweetly to the three girls. "Carlisle is a doctor," she said.
"That's quite handy, isn't-" Hermione began, but she was cut off by the sound of groaning coming from inside the room. Cassie looked at Hermione. Hermione looked at Cassie. Susan sniffed. Bella simply continued her flawless smiling.
"Has he got a patient in there?" asked Cassie.
"Hm?" said Bella. "Oh, no. That's just the cat."
Cassie felt Hermione shift towards her. She tried to stay brave but she was having an overwhelming urge to drop Susan upon the floor and run for her life. Still, she remained, the same forced smile on her face that she was sure was beginning to look just a little peculiar.
The door opened by a crack and an eye appeared. Bella reached in and yanked the man out into the hallway. He hissed, covering his eyes at the sudden light. Bella stood him upright and turned him to face the girls.
"Ladies," she said, "this is my father-in-law, Carlisle."
Carlisle smiled a toothy grin – a very toothy grin indeed – and reached forward a hand, but quickly pulled it back upon noticing the blood that covered it. Hermione's eyes widened and she took a step back. Carlisle smiled apologetically. Another noise, this time a scream, came from the room the doctor had just vacated, sending shivers down the human girls' spines.
"I've decided I want to become a doctor of animals," he said suddenly. "That's what you can hear. Animals... Simply animals..."
Bella shook her head. "Stop talking, would you?" she said kindly. "Susan here has hurt her ankle and she needs your help."
"No, no!" exclaimed Susan all of a sudden, wiping her tears away with her sleeve. "I feel jolly good already!" And to prove her point she hopped up and down on both of her legs. "See? Absolutely spiffing."
Bella narrowed her eyes. "Hang on a minute. You're one of the exchange students, aren't you?"
"Oh, yes," said Susan. "I'm from Thailand." She gave Bella a wink and a nudge. Cassie felt her heart drop. She knew it had been a bad idea to bring Susan. She had begged Voldemort to let her take anyone else, but no. It had to be bloody Susan! And now she had compromised the entire operation, Cassie was sure of it. They would be eaten alive. They would never find Edmund. Hermione would never reach second base with Ron!
"Um... Well, since we're all in tip-top condition, we best be going," Cassie said quickly, already backing down the hallway, Hermione and Susan in tow. "Thank you so much for your hospitality."
"Wait!" Bella held up a slender hand with perfectly manicured nails. "Cassie, darling, it would be lovely if you would join me at my table for lunch tomorrow." She didn't wait for a reply. She disappeared from the corridor immediately, leaving them alone with the doctor, who, although it could have been their imaginations, was hungrily licking at his lips. They dared not turn their backs as they retreated down the hallway, keeping both eyes on him at all times until they were finally out of the door and running back down the driveway.
x
"Do you think they're talking about me?"
Cassie sighed, stabbing her pasta with her fork. "I don't know," she told Bella.
Bella frowned into her cup of coffee. "What about them?" she asked.
Cassie felt it was only best to put the fork down. It must have been the sixth time Bella had asked since they sat down five minutes ago.
The White Witch growled. "Dammit," she said to Cassie. "Why are you such a stupid human? Edward would know. He has ESPN." She gasped and put a hand over her mouth. "Oh, no. forget I said that."
"Said what?" asked Cassie. She had of course heard what Bella had said, but that was the irony of the situation.
"That Edward has ESPN!" hissed Bella, rolling her eyes. "God, you're such an idiot sometimes."
Cassie really didn't know what to say. "So..." she began, "where is Edward?"
"Oh, he's on a camping trip."
"Oh, really? Is it just the boys?"
"What is with all these questions?" Bella said, suddenly irate. "Jeez, it's like the Spanish Armada or something!"
Cassie opened her mouth to correct her but didn't bother. There really was no reasoning with stupid people.
"If you must know," said Bella, "Edward has gone hunting."
"Hunting?"
"Yes. He's a vampire."
"Oh, wow," said Cassie. "Really?"
Bella nodded. "We all are."
Cassie gasped. "Oh my gosh, I never would have guessed!"
"But you can't tell anyone," warned Bella. "Because... you know... I'll kill you..." She shrugged casually and took a sip of her coffee.
"I totally understand," said Cassie. "Your secret is safe with me."
Bella gave Cassie a small smile. She hated this girl, of course she did – she was pretty and she had nice hair and people liked her – but Bella felt a sort of warmth inside of her when Cassie agreed to keep her secret. On reflection, it would appear that the warmth was actually a result of the coffee she had consumed not a moment before, but she decided she didn't want to kill Cassie anyway.
I can't believe I haven't update this in seven months! I didn't realise it had been that long. I've had a birthday since then. And a Christmas. This fic has had an anniversary! But I'm back now. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Please do review :)
For Evanescence2189, Popcorn Life, puckleberryforeva, lowi, SportzDawg, SkyeElf and MaisyB.
